A Thanksgiving Missive

I've had a wonderful epiphany, it is this; I am where I am and that's O.K.   When I feel those words down to my bones, I breathe more deeply and the incessant chatter of monkey mind is subdued by the soundtrack of my life.  (Which as it turns out is playing some kick ass music!)  In my 20's I may have been younger and freer, (and living my Walt Whitman wet dream travelling with my dog & backpack...) but I was always searching, mostly for "great meaning."  Back then I thought it was outside of myself.  So, today I feel great relief and gratitude our life's greatest meaning is always within, and it never ever leaves us, we just tend to close our eyes and deafen our ears...  I'm reminded of all of this looking at the photos of Kim's beautiful family.  The joy of a little boy on a vintage tractor or in his Daddy's arms...  The joy of a Mother and her daughter having a fun moment...  The blossoming beauty of a little girl leaning against that tree...  It all fills my heart so damn much I wouldn't trade anything for the world.  Thank You to all of my wonderful customers who give me this opportunity to do this work I love so very much.  All my Best...  Sharon

Faster than a speeding bullet....

           Can you believe the difference in my precious daughter in just one year?  I can't and that's about all
I can write right now because I feel like blubbering...

Ché coppia bella!

One of my lifelong idols has been Audrey Hepburn.  Her beauty, elegance, charm and grace were all qualities I longed for, not to mention her altruism.  So, what I am getting at here is that one of the highest compliments I can give someone is that they remind me of Audrey Hepburn, and that is what I thought the first time I met Danielle.  I had so much fun traipsing around Beaver Island on a chilly November evening with her and Chris, it was kinda sad when the sun went down.

What a Wonderful World

Whenever I hear Louis Armstrong sing What a Wonderful World, my road rage takes a flying swoosh out the window.  (I have anger issues in the car, I'm not proud of this at all - and it's the reason my darling daughter knows a naughty word... or two...)  Wherever I am, upon hearing those opening chords I'm convinced that with this song in the world, goodness will somehow prevail.  These lovely people are the familial equivalent of that song.  In other words, when I work with them, and bask in the presence of the love they have for each other and their daughter, I get the warm, squishy feeling that goodness does prevail, and that there are millions of loving people out there just like this... 

Much Laughter (and love too!) on the 219

A few of the many, many things that make my heart sing are: mexican coffee from Sweetness 7, weathered wood, the fabric from which saris are made, mariachi bands, autumn, the way the sunlight becomes creamy, buttery goodness before it sets and clients who will tromp through ditches, dance in cow pastures, get romantic on dead logs, (While wearing killer heels no less!) all of this because they honor my visions!  It's glorious I tell you!  Then I am fully free to create artistic, meaningful images, which is why people are drawn to me in the first place. 

Now This Is Sitting Pretty!

Sweet Meadow... The yin to Willow's yang, what a beautiful pairing!

A Beautiful Force of Nature

Whenever I think of Willow Persephone I think of a force of nature; a warm, breezy,

westerly wind dancing through leaves, a perfectly formed snowflake liberating itself from

a cloud and tumbling down to earth, a flash of lightening illuminating our faces and lighting up our hearts like an exquisite firecracker...   So, the thing to keep in mind when photographing a force of nature, is that you don't ask it to stay still, sit pretty and be something it is not.  You try to capture the heart of that wonderful energy in a single frame and throw old stale ideas of what a portrait should be out the window, then you capture the incredible beauty of a shining spirit.





Shaylyn

This gorgeous high school senior is so beautifully poised at this time in her life, she reminds me of this quote:  "Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine." 

I used to be more fanatic about B&W...

I used to be a B&W fanatic, everything looked better to me that way...  It felt classic & timeless, the expression & form of an image seemed more dramatic unshackled from color.  (Hello Edward Weston.)  Now, anyone who really knows me is aware that I am either starboard or larboard, rarely even keel.  Which means that I've become as fanatic about color that I used to be about B&W!  Give me verdant greens, radiant yellows, operatic purples, etc...  This is not to say that I've thrown B&W and it's warmer sister sepia down the hatch.  Some images are meant to be one or the other & I shall certainly remain sensitive to that, the images always let me know... 

Farewell Sweet Film

I did something this past week that made my heart bubble up in my throat and my solar plexus sink to my knees.  I sold a beautiful, integral, yummy-smelling part of my past: My (choke) 35mm & medium format (shudder) beloved (sigh) FILM CAMERAS!  The worse part of it was standing in the FedEx store for 20 minutes watching two very unpleasant men package these poignant pieces of my past with anger & derision.  (Thank you, Mr. & Mr. NastyPants.)  I loved the smell of fresh film & stop bath & Kodak Endura paper fresh from the package, blank & brimming with silver halide possibilities...  In college I used to take my radio and Doors CD's and sneak into the darkrooms in the middle of the night.  Red safety lights + Jim Morrison + Images I created coming alive beneath my fingertips in a pool of developer = MAGIC.  I'm ok, I do have a new love in the form of a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV.  I don't share my pillow with her, but then again between Aria, Montana, books I'm reading and notebooks I'm not writing in, there's not a lot of room on the pillow, but now I've made the room inside of me for this new, non-smelling, digital future to grow.